Band Of Holy Joy: The Clouds That Break The Sky auf 3 CDs

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In the C86 period, with its halfhearted Postcard copyists, uninspired Buzzcocks wannabes and Beefheart types, BOHJ sounded unique. Yet during those days, BOHJ's depth, socio-political lyricism and portraiture of tragic human existence just made them pariahs.

»The Clouds That Break The Sky« gathers up all of the early releases issued on records bearing Band Of Holy Joy's name alone. The 41 tracks presented here originate from two albums, four eps and singles, plus four unreleased alternate studio versions. These recordings and the band's live performances led to a deal with Rough Trade. This resulted in some of their finest recordings, a near hit... and disaster. As they entered public consciousness, Rough Trade collapsed, days after the release of a new album. The band's momentum was severely affected and they split soon after, only to reform a few years back to new acclaim.

These recordings do not fall into easy categories – there's a touch of the odd humanism of early Virgin Prunes, the bile and humour of early Microdisney, a touch of Vic Godard's wit and wink, even pre-rock romanticism... but Band Of Holy Joy stand alone.